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Historic Day for Latin's Forensics Team

Latin qualified more students than ever for the National Catholic Forensics League Grand National Tournament, held in Pittsburgh over the Memorial Day Weekend, with one student finishing the competition as a national semifinalist.

Seven students represented Latin at the national championship, two having qualified in two events. Junior Emily Daviau qualified for nationals in both oral interpretation of prose and poetry (sixth in league) and duo interpretation of literature with her sister, senior Kathryn Daviau (fourth in league). Emily was the second dual national qualifier in School history. She elected to compete in duo interpretation.

Sophomore Emma Baumgartner competed in original oratory (sixth in league), while classmates Dana Black competed in oral interpretation of prose and poetry (fifth in league) and Joshua Fintel in oratorical declamation (fourth in league).

Senior Jason St. Peters qualified as an alternate in extemporaneous speaking (10th in the league). He earned the right to compete at nationals due to the dual qualification of other competitors who had to choose between their two events.

Senior Matthew Colman became the first student from Latin to represent the Chicago Catholic Forensics League at nationals in student congress, finishing second in the league. He also was fifth in the league in extemporaneous speaking and the third dual national qualifier in School history. Colman elected to compete in student congress at nationals.

After a full day of competition on Saturday, May 25, the field was narrowed to 48 contestants in each event. Coach Martin Thompson likens this octofinalist stage to winning a state championship. In the short time that Latin has competed in forensics, three students have reached the octofinals: Adam Topel '00, Elliot Lieberman '01, and Katia Sobolski '01.

This year, sophomore Joshua Fintel became the fourth student to achieve octofinalist status for his performance in oratorical declamation. In this event a student delivers a famous speech written by someone else. Josh's performance of "Perils of Indifference" by Elie Wiesel, not only propelled him to the top 48, but also to a spot in Latin history. By the end of the day on Sunday, Josh had been named a semifinalist, making him one of the top 12 competitors in the country.

Congratulations, Josh!